here in d.c. this afternoon, people watched on "pines" and needles as crews finished lifting the tree back into place after it toppled over. wind gusts hit 40 mires in the nation's capital today. the national christmas tree lighting ceremony is scheduled to take place on thursday, and because i know you're wondering, national park service says the tree is a 40-foot norway spruce. tonight, 30 teams compete, eight advance, one champion. coverage of the nba inseason tournament tonight at 7:00 eastern on tnt and on max. then a big night tomorrow on cnn. gayle king and sir charles barkley for the premiere of their new show "king charles." that's tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. our coverage continues now with mr. wolf blitzer in "the situation room" live from tel aviv.

happening now, breaking news. 12 more hostages are now back here in israel and heading to israeli hospitals after spending 53 days in captivity. this is the first group released since the temporary pause was extended for two additional days. also tonight, a cnn exclusive. a chilling new account from an israeli father describing how his 9-year-old daughter survived for weeks as a hostage. the joy of being reunited after originally believing she didn't survive the october 7th terror attacks. plus another cnn exclusive. stunning new revelations from

former republican congresswoman liz this is cnn breaking news. >> our cnn team is here live in the region covering all the latest developments. let's go straight to cnn's jeremy diamond who's in eshkelon, israel. walk us through the release of these hostages today. >> reporter: earlier tonight we witnessed 12 newly freed hostages, 10 israeli citizens, 2 thai nationals, being helicoptered out of the kerem shalom crossing towards

hospitals in central israel. this is the second night in a row we have seen hostages board helicopters and go directly to hospitals. tonight, they crossed through that rafah crossing into egypt, fighting in order to allow for the release of these hostages as well as those palestinian prisoners, there's now major questions about whether or not that truce can be extended further and whether or not groups beyond women and children could potentially also be released. that's where the cia director, bill burns, comes in. we're told earlier today, he was in qatar in the capital of doha meeting with his qatari, israeli, and egyptian intelligence counterparts. all of this aimed at trying to see whether or not an additional deal to try and extend this

truce fourth can be made and whether or not men in particular and israeli soldiers could be included in this deal. there are major questions about whether or not that is something that hamas will agree to, whether israel and hamas can reach terms on that. as it stands, ten additional hostages are set to be released tomorrow as part of this initial extension, but if there is no deal beyond that, wolf, the war could very well resume. >> jeremy diamond reporting for us, thank you very much. in exchange for the ten israeli hostages released by hamas today, israel handed over 30 more palestinian detainees. compound in jerusalem. now, we understand it

included - - extended for another six months and another after that. so this is a system that has been widely criticized by international human rights groups. wolf? >> ben, i knowal in

jenee in the west bank where the israel military raided that area, what are you learning? >> reporter: this is actually an ongoing raid that happened, began just a couple of hours ago. according to witnesses we've been in touch with, it involved 130 military vehicles, six bulldozers, drones flying over the refugee camp there which we're told now is surrounded. however, there are militants in the camp who have been fighting back. this is a place where just last week, five people were killed, several militants, but also several civilians. when we were there in the camp today where you see a lot of destruction, where these

bulldozers just basically plow up the asphalt of the roads there, residents were telling us that since august there have been more than 30 individual israeli incursions into that camp. but this one appears to be the biggest so far. more than seven weeks. cnn spoke to one father, thomas hand, whose 9-year-old emily was returned to him saturday. cnn's clarissa ward is joining us right now. what have you learned about emily's story and the toll being held hostage took on her? >> reporter: 50 days. that's the amount of time that emily spent in captivity. for tom, it was an incredibly painful roller coaster. originally he had been told that emily was dead, that she had been killed in the october 7th attacks. then he was told that they believe she may be alive in gaza.

then finally he got the news that he really never even dared to dream of, that she would be part of that release. he went to greet her, and he described to us the incredible searing moment when he first laid eyes on her, take a look. >> they should be here in a couple of minutes. like -- i don't believe it. and all of a sudden -- the door opened up and -- she just ran. it was beautiful. just like -- just like i imagined it. running together. i squeezed, probably squeezed too hard. it's only when she stepped back a little, i could see her face was chiseled, like mine was. before she left it was chubby,

girlie, a young kid. yeah, she's lost a lot of body weight. and the color. i've never seen her so white. the most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was he was just whispering. i couldn't hear her. i had to put my ear on her lips, like this close, and say, "what did you say?" whispering, "i thought you were kidnapped." >> she thought you were kidnapped? >> she thought i was in captivity. they thought they'd kidnapped me. she didn't know what the hell happened on that morning. she presumed everyone's kidnapped or killed or slaughtered or -- she had no idea. >> reporter: thomas said that emily has not really been able

to talk a lot about what she experienced and that psychiatrists have told him that he just needs to be patient and allow her to reveal and share things at her own pace. but he is starting to put together something of a picture about her captivity. he had assumed, for example that she was held in the tunnels deep underground. in fact, he says she was held in houses and moved regularly from house to house. she is in physically good shape other than having lost weight. but she is deeply frightened. you heard him talk about how she was whispering. he said she's only just starting to get her voice back, that she only -- the only word she learned in arabic during captivity was the word to be quiet that they spent their days doing things like drawing and playing cards because they weren't allowed to make a lot of noise. and she also lost complete track of time. he asked, did she have a sense of how long she had been held for? and she was held for 50 days, as we said.

and she looked at him and said, "i think i was held for a year." then, of course, he had the heartbreaking task of having to inform her that his ex-wife, who had been something of a second mother to emily, was actually killed in the october 7th attacks. and he said she kept asking about it, he didn't know how to answer, whether he should answer. the psychiatrists at the hospital said, you have to, you have to be clear, do it quickly but gently. he did, and he described this moment that her eyes glazed her and she gasped as she did a sharp intake of breath. so you have the picture altogether, wolf, of a very fragile, sweet little girl who will be grappling with this for a long time to come. and yet unmistakably, she is one of the lucky ones. he is one of the lucky ones. and that's why thomas really wants everyone's focus right now to be on getting the rest of the hostages out as quickly and as

safely as possible, wolf. >> let's all hope that happens as quickly and safely as possible. clarissa ward, thank you so much for that report. our hearts go out to that family. just ahead, no americans were among the 12 hostages released by hamas today as we approach the final day of the truce. a key member of the senate foreign relations committee standing by live to discuss. something you'll see first right here on cnn, the bombshell revelations from former congresswoman liz cheney about her gop colleagues. stay with us, you're in "the situation room."

i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv, israel. 12 more hostages were released from hamas captivity today, but two american women were not on the list. now just one day remains for them to be freed before the end of the temporary truce. i want to bring in democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut right now. he's a member of the senate foreign relations committee. senator, thanks so much for joining us. more hostages were thankfully freed today, but again, not the two american women the white house has strongly advocated

for. there's still one day left of this temporary truce, but is it a failure that this -- that at this point, at least until now, the biden administration has not secured their release? >> well, every release is really important. and while we obviously place a priority on americans, we know that it is important to get every single one of those hostages out of captivity and back home to their loved ones. so we will continue to press for the release of all americans and all israelis. i hope that hamas accepts the fact that they can continue to release hostages, and in return save the lives of their own citizens at the same time. but our work is not done until

until is out of gaza, no doubt about that. >> senator, do you believe hamas is strategically holding back these americans for leverage? >> i know that hamas is pure evil. they unquestionably use humans inside gaza as shields to protect them. they hoard supplies current negotiations in trying to extend

the truce? out to people in need, innocent people in need in gaza . i believe it's in the united states' strategic interest for israel to destroy hamas.

so these are temporary pauses necessary to get the hostages out. but if hamas thinks that they are going to use these hostages to get away with the murder of 1,400 israeli citizens and americans, they're wrong about that. the civilian death rate inside gaza has been too high. but i do not think that israel should stand down at a moment when there are a lot of perpetrators of those attacks who are still on the loose inside gaza. and hamas still, as we speak, has the capability to launch

future attacks against israel. i think israel can be more careful about civilian casualties, but i also don't think it's in any of our interests for the fight against hamas to end before hamas is militarily decapitated. >> senator chris murphy, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. coming up, an exclusive first look at private gop conversations after the 2020 presidential election in the united states. what former congresswoman liz cheney is now saying about just how far some in her own party will go to protect donald trump. why house republicans are saying no, at least for now, to an offer from hunter biden for public testimony.

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we're back with a cnn exclusive. former republican congresswoman liz cheney paints a scathing portrait of her former house gop colleagues as enablers and collaborators of donald trump and blasts them for what she calls the cowardice they showed in the face of trump's lies about the presidential election. these stunning new revelations come from her upcoming book entitled, "oath and honor: a medical lawyer and a warning." cnn's jamie gangel got an early look at the book. what is liz cheney revealing in this explosive new book? >> reporter: wolf, this is an extraordinary book because it takes you behind the scenes. she names names, she has the receipts. and as you just said, a big part of it is calling out the republican party for supporting trump for his election lies. here's one quote from the book.

"donald trump cannot succeed alone. he depends upon enablers and collaborators. every american should understand what his enablers in congress and in the leadership of the republican party were willing to do to help trump seize power in the months after he lost the 2020 presidential election and what they continue to do to this day." wolf, it's important to note, the book draws from text messages, emails, calls, meetings, as well as personal conversations. these -- this is a picture behind the scenes of what was really going on in the republican party, and we're learning about it for the first time, wolf. >> let me ask you this question, jamie. liz cheney shares two very telling stories about the ousted speaker, kevin mccarthy, and the current speaker, mike johnson. walk us through those. >> reporter: so wolf, first of

all, cheney accuses mccarthy -- there are a lot of examples in the book -- of repeatedly lying and choosing what she calls, quote, the craven path of embracing trump. she recounts the first moment that she found out, just three weeks after january 6th, that kevin mccarthy had secretly gone down to mar-a-lago to try to get back in trump's good graces. the picture we're looking at right now, cheney writes, she thought it was a fake when she saw it. she writes, she said to kevin, "mar-a-lago, what the hell, kevin?" mccarthy, "they're really worried, trump's not eating so they asked me to come see him." cheney, "what? you went to mar-a-lago because trump's not eating?" mccarthy, "yeah, he's really depressed." as for johnson, cheney writes --

she brought this book, we should understand, before johnson became speaker. but what we find out is that johnson played a critical role in helping trump behind the scenes. and she writes, quote, "when i confronted him with the flaws in his legal arguments, johnson would often concede or say something to the effect of, we just need to do this one last thing for trump." wolf, we just see over and over again throughout the book cheney writes how her republican colleagues were saying one thing in private, another in public. but in this book, she has the quotes, the text messages, the personal conversations. wolf? >> very, very exciting stuff indeed. stay with us. i also want to bring in former republican congressman adam kinzinger who also served as a member of the january 6th select committee along with cnn senior

political analyst gloria borger. adam kinzinger, you and liz cheney went through a lot of this together when you were both in congress. what's going through your mind hearing all these developments, all these things she's now suggesting in her new book? >> absolutely utter zero surprise. a lot of this i know, i've known. some of it is stuff that was specific to her. but i mean, kevin mccarthy, the interesting thing is he's always -- whenever he tells a story, he's always the hero in his story. in this case he went down to feed the president or whatever. you know in my case, i remember him hearing say something along the lines of, he just happened to be in florida for a fund-raising trip and you've got to go see the former president. when liz says that she thought that picture was fake, i did too. because you have to take yourself back to that moment. that moment, we were all sitting around, it was kind of the silence in the conference. the conference being all the republican members of congress. where it was like, we don't know

where the party's going. i had actually considered doing a vote of no confidence against kevin mccarthy and actually thought i might be able to get it passed. goes to show how stuff changed so quickly. we're sitting in that silence. the second he shows up at mar-a-lago, we thought it was fake because, first off, it was so unbelievable that just three weeks after this, he would do it. and it goes to show that the only thing he cared about was craven power. i'll say quickly, he knew he wanted to be speaker. i think he went for a calculation in his head, do i take on the trumpers, basically, and try to throw him out of the party? i think it was doable at that time. but he realized he could not do that and still become speaker of the house. so he made a craven political decision to simply embrace trump to try to get him to embrace him and become speaker. he became speaker, and the lasted about nine months. >> speaking of kevin mccarthy, what's also interesting in this book is that just two days after the election, according to liz cheney, mccarthy said to her,

"he knows it's over, trump knows it's over." given what jack smith, the special counsel, is looking into as he talks about somebody who was trying to subvert the election, that's an important piece of information. we know that he's been told that from other people, the special counsel's office has spoken to. liz cheney is saying right here that mccarthy said that trump knows it's over, then of course, you know, lied about it. and i think, you know, that's really an important then to understand as you read this book. >> jamie, what stark warning does liz cheney give about the 2024 presidential election? >> wolf, i think it's important to know that the book is really a roadmap. it starts with the election and the lies, goes through the january 6th committee. but it concludes with really a chilling, stark warning.

and that is that she believes that if trump is re-elected, if he's allowed to go back to the white house, that the checks and balances of our system will not hold. that the guardrails won't be there. the kinds of people who sort of held it together in the first trump administration as best they could, and not always, that he simply won't have people like that. and that democracy really will be in peril. and she has said, wolf, that she will do anything to keep trump from ever going back to the white house. she thinks he is the most dangerous person, she says in the book, to ever be in the oval office. >> very strong words indeed. adam kinzinger, republicans like you and cheney want to move away, clearly, from trump. today we saw the very influential koch brothers throw their weight behind nikki haley. do you see the course of the 2024 election potentially

changing at all right now? >> well no. but i think it's possible. look, i don't want to write that off. i think certainly haley's surging. chris christie's surging in new hampshire. i think chris christie is bump to watch in new hampshire. the only one tell the truth to people. that said, anybody but trump -- i guess i could name a couple still that i don't want to see in the party. but really, yeah, there's some surge. and i think, you know, people have an ability to be more hopeful now than they would have been maybe a month ago. donald trump has collapsed -- i don't know if his support is collapsing but you see what he puts out on his fake twitter and all this other stuff, he's like losing his mind. that gets into the psyche of who he is. so i think there's still a chance. i think once he starts going to trial and mark meadows is cooperating, it's going to be a whole different ball game when people see it. >> we also know from looking at the polls that if he were to be convicted on anything, a lot of

people would change their minds. i think the interesting thing to see right now is that a lot of the big money people -- the koch brothers, as wolf mentioned, maybe ken langone -- are going to be supporting nikki haley. and that's money that trump would have wanted. and i think that doesn't make the trump campaign very happy. they have an enormous lead, but nobody has voted yet. we'll have to see what happens in iowa. if nikki haley were to come in a very strong second in iowa, for example, i think that would catapult her to new hampshire and then south carolina. so we'll just have to see. >> guys, everybody, thank you very, very much. this important note, be sure to check out adam kinzinger's terrific new book entitled, "renegade: defending democracy and liberty in our divided country." very important book indeed. you'll want to read it. on capitol hill tonight,

we're following new developments in the republican-led investigation into president biden and his family with the president's son, hunter, offering now to testify in public before the house oversight committee. but the committee is for now, at least, rejecting that offer. cnn's melanie zanona is live on capitol hill. what's going on? what's the latest? >> reporter: wolf, this is really shaping up to be a showdown between hunter biden and the committee. house republicans have long been clamoring for hunter biden's testimony. last month, the committee issued a subpoena to hunter biden for him to appear for a closed-door deposition in december. however, hunter biden's legal team has already rejected that offer. they say they believe that hunter biden should be able to tell his own story and they're worried about potential leaks from the committee. so we've already heard from chairman james comer. he is the head of the committee. he said he is rejecting that offer and still is insisting on that closed-door deposition. let me read part of his

statement and his reasoning. "hunter biden is trying to play by his own rules instead of following the rules required of everyone else. we expect full cooperation with our subpoena for a deposition, but also agree that hunter biden should have the opportunity to testify in a public setting at a future date." republicans had hoped to wrap up their impeachment inquiry into the president as soon as possible, even though they do have yet to establish a link between the president and his son's business deals, which is a focus of their committee investigation. but this back and forth really potentially could delay their probe and is throwing into question doctor timeline and their potential proceeding efforts against the president. >> melanie zanona on capitol hill, thank you very much. just ahead, my conversation with a woman here in israel dealing with a members tour of both joy and grief. two family members recently freed by hamas, while another remains held in gaza.

tonight, 12 more hostages have been freed from hamas captivity. today i talked with abby own, an american who lives in israel. two of her relatives were released by hamas yesterday, but one remains held in gaza. you lost relatives, but you've also been reunited with freed relatives? >> yes. >> talk a little about that. >> it has been an emotional roller coaster since october 7th. at first we thought we had five hostages, and ten days in we learned that carmela and noia had been murdered. and it got harder for us, because we had to find a way to keep fighting and not grieve, and now, 52 days in, aras and sahar have been returned to their mother. something we believed would happen, something we hoped and fought for.

yet we're not whole yet, because ofer is still there, and there's more than 170 hostages still being held. >> what's it like seeing people who survived but at the same time suffering because some of your relatives were murdered? >> there's so much trauma. and i think i haven't let myself really think about what it meant to be held in captivity, to be held underground, to not be given food or go to the bathroom when you want. you don't know where they're sleeping or if they're warm. and to know now that they're out and that there's the beginning of that healing, the beginning of that processing, but also knowing their father is still there and so many others are. we feel truly like a part of a larger family of all the people who have hostages. and we won't rest until every single person is home. >> so abby, how are you and your family finding strength in the midst of all of this? >> we are lucky. we have a lot of people who are in this fight.

we have met new family members. we have found each other. we're all mobilized. we're all strong in the belief that if we fight hard enough, we're going to bring not only our family home but everyone. >> how do you share this with your young kids? what do you say to them? >> that i think has probably been the hardest. for me as a mother, to sit with them the day after we learn that carmela and noia were murdered, to truly explain what happened on october 7th in stark terms, what terrorism is, what angst is, what it means to be kidnap order held hostage -- to know that there's fear for them, that they're afraid that something like that could happen to them, that they're living through sirens, that they're spending time in bomb shelters. these are things growing up in the united states, even living here for the last nine years, i never thought i would have to explain to my own children. >> what do you say when they say, mommy, i'm scared? >> say that we live in a country that invested in defense, that we have the iron dome, we have bomb shelters. those are secure things.

that we're doing everything we can to fight for our family and fight for everyone that doesn't have a voice and that we're fighting for them also. >> so when you saw your relatives come back, you gave them a big hug? >> i haven't hugged them yet. their mother has. they're still in the hospital being treated. for me, the only outcome was for me to see their mother hug them. i got to see that. and that's enough for right now. i feel like last night, we had joy and an exhale. and some relief. but knowing today we would start the fight again for ofer. >> part of my conversation with abby onn earlier today. we'll be right back.

we're learning new details about the conditions of the three palestinian college students who were shot in burlington, vermont. brian todd is following this important story for us. what's the latest, brian?

>> reporter: we've just learned that the parents of one of the victims, kenan abdil hamid, has identified him as the victim just released from the hospital. their son has told them he was afraid to leave the hospital. this comes as we get new information on the investigation and on the other victims. from the relatives of three young palestinian victims, jarring new accounts of saturday night's shooting in burlington, vermont, and a disturbing prognosis for one victim. the mother of 20-year-old college student tashim aratani say doctors say he's lost functional mobility in both legs. >> the prognosis is bad. the prognosis is he won't regain it. we are determined to work with him and support him and get the best possible care so that he can. i believe that hesham has the determination and courage and resilience to regain his legs' movement, but the doctors currently say it is not possible. >> reporter: kesham suffered a

bullet wound he was wounded along with the two others. this attack could well have been fatal. >> we are worried that the shooter stayed with them for a period and then left and thought he was going to continue to shoot them and kill them. >> the suspect has been charged with three counts of attempted murder and has pleaded not guilty. officials say federal prosecutors in vermont are investigating whether the shooting may have been a hate crime. the victims' families are calling for that. police say moments before the shooting as they were taking a walk, the young men were speaking to each other in arabic and english, and relatives say this. >> they were wearing their keffiyehs, traditional palestinian scarves and this gentleman stepped out of the dark and pulled out a handgun and fired four times. >> reporter: but even though the burlington police chief has called this a hateful act, he's

indicate the it's not clear whether they can cross the legal threshold to charge eaton with a hate crime, that they have yet to uncover specific evidence to establish his motive. what would they need to charge him with a hate crime? >> you're looking at the animus, you're looking at what precipitated it, why it began, they'll look for the affiliations of this particular person. they'll look for who he was responding to and communicating with. they'll look at what his beliefs are. >> reporter: and, analysts say, they'll look at this crime in the context of climate of tension in the u.s. connected to the israel/hamas water. >> these events can be triggers for people who harbor racist or extremist views to really set them into motion. all the indicators are that people who harbor racist or extremist beliefs are particularly energized right now, and that is a very volatile situation. >> reporter: the burlington police chief told cnn that to get some insight into eaton's possible motive, they'll work with the fbi to analyze devices

taken from his apartment. court documents say those include five cell phones, an ipad, and a backpack full of hard drives. wolf? >> brian todd reporting for us, brian, are thank you very much. coming up, america says good-bye to former first lady rose lind carter during a very emotional memorial service today.

we want to take a closer look right now at the hostages released by hamas today. and they include nine adults and one teenager.

two thai nationals were also released as well. we're so glad they're all coming home and hope there are many more to come home as well. thank you very much for that. meanwhile, family and friends remembered former first lady rosalynn carter during a very moving memorial service in atlanta today. cnn's eva mckend has more. ♪ >> reporter: a beautiful and moving tribute to the life and memory of former first lady rosalynn carter. >> today, we do indeed mourn a remarkable person, one of the truly good people in this world. >> reporter: all of carter's four children and 11 grandchildren were there, as was her husband of more than 77 years, jimmy carter. today marking an increasingly

rare public appearance by the former president since entering hospice care in february. the carters' grandson telling cnn that his grandfather wouldn't have missed today's service for the world. he was able to talk through his youngest daughter amy. >> because he isn't able to speak to you today, i am going to share some of his words about loving and missing her. my darling, every time i have ever been away from you, i have been thrilled when i returned to discover just how wonderful you are. while i am away, i try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be as sweet and beautiful as i remember. but when i see you, i fall in love with you all over again. does that seem strange to you? it doesn't to me. >> reporter: carter was a staunch advocate for destigitizing mental illness, and along with her husband, launched the carter center, promoting human rights around the world.

>> because of rosalynn carter, millions of lives are better off. what a gift she left. >> reporter: despite her many accolades and accomplishments, rosalynn carter's family says she was just like everyone else. >> she was my grandmother first. and she was like everyone else's grandmother in a lot of ways, almost all of her recipes call for mayonnaise, for example. [ laughter ] we all got cards from her on our birthdays. $20 bill in it. when i was 45, $20 bill. [ laughter ] >> reporter: rosalynn carter died at age 96. >> my mother, rosalynn carter, was the most beautiful woman i've ever met, and pretty to look at, too. >> reporter: following the ceremony, carter's casket was taken back to her hometown of plains, georgia, where she will be laid to rest in a private